March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Gonzaga shot 55 percent and
defeated St. John’s 86-71, sending the Red Storm home after
their first game in the men’s national college basketball
tournament since 2002.

Gonzaga’s Marquise Carter had a career-high 26 points and
Steven Gray added 16 points, including four 3-pointers, in the
Southeast Region game in the National Collegiate Athletic
Association tournament tonight in Denver. Gonzaga went 9-for-15
from beyond the 3-point line.

Dwight Hardy had 26 points to lead St. John’s.

The Red Storm (21-12) were missing injured forward D.J.
Kennedy, who was the team’s third-leading scorer this season
with 10.4 points per game. Kennedy hurt his knee last week in
St. John’s loss to Syracuse in the Big East tournament.